


Blowing Smoke at the Moon

by Doctor_Discord



Series: The Ego Manor [164]
Category: Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Blood, Cigarettes, Emotional Baggage, Feelings, Smoking, Talking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-19
Updated: 2020-02-19
Packaged: 2021-02-28 01:33:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,225
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22795591
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Doctor_Discord/pseuds/Doctor_Discord
Summary: The Host and Yancy have a little chat.
Relationships: The Host/Dr. Iplier
Series: The Ego Manor [164]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1166384
Comments: 37
Kudos: 226





	Blowing Smoke at the Moon

Yancy couldn’t sleep.

It wasn’t the first time it had happened. He was used to sleepless nights. He was also bored of staring at his ceiling for hours on end. So, with a sigh, he rolled over, slipping out of bed. He grabbed his pack of cigarettes and his lighter, and left his room.

The manor was _creepy_ at night. Dark and silent. Yancy couldn’t help the feeling that he was being _watched_ as he climbed the stairs to the second floor, weaving through the halls till he stepped onto the balcony that overlooked the back deck, staring out at the forest. He sighed, pulling out a cigarette, lighting it, and blew smoke towards the full moon that hung over the trees. He leaned against the railing, staring up at the sky. His head both felt too full and too empty at the same time, leaving him with a strange ache. He just stared at the moon, watching the stars. He could see the Milky Way up here, stretched above the trees.

“Yancy should quit.”

He jumped, spinning around. The Host offered him a small, cheeky smile, hands jammed into the pockets of his coat, which is was wearing over his pajamas. Yancy huffed, turning back to lean against the railing. He couldn’t tell if it was his breath or the cigarette smoke hanging in the cold winter air. Either way, his lungs burned. “Yeah, I know. Been doin’ it so long now, don’t know how to quit.”

The Host hummed softly, coming to stand beside him. “The Host could help. Withdrawal symptoms are easy to get rid of.”

Yancy scoffed, blowing another stream of smoke into the sky. “S’easy for you to say that. I don’t got magic. N’besides…don’t know if I even wanna quit.”

The Host raised an eyebrow, but didn’t say anything more. Yancy couldn’t tell if it was blood or shadows that covered in his face. It was silent for a long moment before either of them spoke again. Of course, it was the Host who did. “Why is Yancy awake at such an early hour?”

Now it was Yancy’s turn to arch an eyebrow. “Don’t youse already know that? Ain’t that like…your thing?”

The Host chuckled. His smile looked more than a little eerie with the way his teeth seemed to glow in the moonlight. “Yes, but in the Host’s experience, it’s more relaxing for others if the Host feigns ignorance instead of… _flaunting_ what he knows.” He turned his head to direct that smile directly at Yancy. “When faced with omniscience, it tends to make people uncomfortable.”

Yancy huffed a small laugh. “Tch, yeah, I can imagine…” He took a long drag of cigarette, releasing the smoke with a sigh. “So why’re you up? Don’t you got that doctor to be in bed with?”

The Host snorted, laughing. “Dr. Iplier is perfectly content cuddling a pillow with Peggy sleeping between it and him in the Host’s absence.” His shoulders dropped, and he shrugged. “The Host has chronic nightmares. He didn’t feel it necessary to wake Dr. Iplier for such a trivial thing. He doesn’t get enough sleep as is even without the Host’s nightmares to worry about.”

“Oh. I’m sorry.” Yancy’s brow furrowed a little in confusion. “But…ain’t he gonna be upset youse never told him?”

The Host shrugged. “What Dr. Iplier doesn’t know won’t hurt him. It’s not the first time the Host has slipped away.” He smiled a little. “The fresh air always makes him feel better.”

Yancy hummed in response. His eyes always seemed to return to the moon. He supposed it _had_ been a long time since he’d seen it. Prisoners weren’t allowed outside at night. And standing here…on a mountaintop, with the Milky Way stretched out before him…he couldn’t help but feel a little _scared_. The world was so much bigger than he was used to. He felt almost like he had vertigo as he stared up into the expanse of space.

“The Host understands Yancy’s feelings. The manor can be…quite chaotic.”

Yancy jumped again, coughing a little. “Uh – what feelings are those?”

The Host smiled a bit, face tilted up towards the moon. “Feeling out of place. Feeling like he doesn’t belong, he doesn’t fit in. Feeling overwhelmed in the chaos.”

Yancy shrunk a bit. “Oh. No offence, but…how? Clearly youse got your place in there. _I_ don’t.”

The Host’s expression shifted into something unreadable, lowering his head, and the shadows danced across his features. “Has Yancy ever heard of a man called the Author?”

Yancy shook his head, then stopped, gaze flicking to the Host’s bandages. “Er – no.”

The Host hummed softly. “The Author was…a cruel man. A sadistic monster. He was a famous, renowned author; his books filled whole shelves. But…sometimes people would go missing. And the characters in the Author’s books matched _perfectly_ to the missing.” He glanced at Yancy. “He was _powerful_. Not just anybody can make Darkiplier bleed. But he wanted more. He got greedy with his powers. And he began to go mad with the visions that plagued him. Desperation led him to ripping his own eyes out with his bare hands on the bathroom floor of his little cabin in the forest.” The Host shot him a wry little smile. “Needless to say, the Host wasn’t exactly welcomed with open arms when he arrived.”

Yancy listened with growing horror, cigarette nearly falling out of his agape mouth. “You…” He swallowed. “I…didn’t know a person could change like that.”

The Host shrugged. “Neither did the Author. He fully expected to die that day. And in a way, he did. Though if it weren’t for Dr. Iplier, the Host wouldn’t be alive, either.”

Yancy swallowed, putting his cigarette out on the balcony railing. “That’s…I don’t know if I got a right to complain about feelin’ awkward after that.”

The Host frowned. “That was not the Host’s intention. The point he was trying to illustrate is that he _does_ understand Yancy’s feeling of displacement. But in the Host’s experience, it just takes one friend to make everything better.” He quirked an eyebrow, a little smile playing at his lips. “The Host must say, he’s never seen Google enjoy a human’s company with such enthusiasm before.”

Yancy blushed a little, rubbing the back of neck awkwardly and fiddling with the remains of his cigarette. “Yeah…don’t think Bing likes me much though.”

The Host snorted. “Oh please, Bing is just being a spoiled brat who’s pouting about no longer having Google’s full attention. He’ll get over himself.”

Yancy laughed, then shivered as a crisp breeze rippled past. He could feel exhaustion creeping up on him at last, and he yawned. “I think I’m gonna head back to bed. You comin’?”

The Host smiled, but shook his head. “No, the Host thinks he’ll linger for a bit longer. The stars are particularly beautiful tonight.”

Yancy tilted his head in confusion. “But –” Again he glanced at the Host’s bandages, but just shook his head. “Alright. You have fun out here.”

The Host snorted again, and Yancy left the balcony, creeping back downstairs and discarding his cigarette before climbing back into his nice warm bed. He closed his eyes, pulling the blankets nearly completely over his head.

He was asleep near instantly.

**Author's Note:**

> CUTE  
> I LOVE  
>  _Magic bois magic bois magic boIS MAGIC BOIS MAGIC BOIS_  
>  :D
> 
> Tumblr: doctordiscord123.tumblr.com


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